Indiana Face Masks A105 N95
Overall Result
Filtration
Breathability
Standard
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Review
Video Transcript
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the place where we're testing every single mask in the world today. We're looking at N95 specifically made in America. Pretty cool. Huh? Join me on this journey for the Indiana Face Mask.That's right, Indiana Face Mask. Let's put it in the clamper and then we will talk about this. Really cool that all of these are individually packed. We'll get to that in just a second, but that's kind of awesome. So I haven't seen that with any face mask, except for 3M does that with their 3M Aura. All right. So this is different than we've done with our surgical masks. We had to create this special setup here. This is not how NIOSH would do a test. They use a very efficient, but long process of applying beeswax around the edge of an N95 for the testing. This is a lot faster, but it does get approximately the same results.
This is a PFE machine, Particularly Filtration Efficiency machine. If you want to find out more about this setup and how it differs from our surgical mask tests, check out that link. At least I hope it appears there. One of the things we want to look at right away is this airflow resistance. That number just popped through there, about a hundred and Ooh, actually. Wow. I think that's a record, 101. That's better than our surgical masks and it's an N95. That's incredible. Actually, wait, it just went under a 100, 98, 97. That's incredible. We'll wait to really look at the mask efficiency, but I'm pretty excited about this mask.
All right. Let's look back at the box here. Indiana Face Mask, IFM, is, I don't love their box. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to be real honest with you. American made, beautiful mask. The box is not a soft touch and it needs to be, so I've actually talked to them. I said, "I'll pay extra for this mask if you can make me a soft touch." So they're actually looking into it. I just don't think it represents very well the awesomeness that awaits you when you open this thing up. You open this up and you've got 25 individually packed masks, which is great because you're on the go, you put that in your back pocket, you put it in your boot, what have you, you're in a good spot. I love that they do this. What a cool thing and not cheap to do that by the way, either. So it's very, very, very cool for them to see that.
Now these guys are awesome. If you look at their backstory, I think they were making pool filters and other types of filtration and just before the pandemic, they were about to expand into another business unit. They had 100,000 square foot space ready to go and the son, it's a family owned business, 20, 30 years, a lot of similar stories you hear like this, and they've been making Spunbond, and I think Meltblown, which is the material that is in a mask. But they've been making that for like 20 years so they really knew it well. And the son said, "We need to make masks. We need to not go into this new business. We need to make masks." So cool. And they just knocked it out of the park. I heard a rumor. I don't know if you know this, but we've been working on our N95 mask for about nine months now trying to get it through the NIOSH process. And I heard a rumor, they got through their process in 17 days because that's how good these guys are at what they do. They have an advantage though, they've been doing this stuff for a really long time.
All right. So let's take a look at the mask itself here. I'm going to go ahead and put it on. I know people are going to, don't email me, don't at me. Don't at me, bro. I'm not putting it on correctly. It's on my face, okay. All right. So put it on. So this actually does have a tiny bit of a cardboard smell. Of all the masks that I tested that are American made for whatever reason have like no smell. This has a tiny bit of a cardboard smell, which is not that terrible, really. It's a good fit. I'm getting a great seal. You can tell by the muffledness of my voice and yeah. I mean, it's a pretty good mask.
Look at the head straps there. Okay, that's actually pretty good. Oh yeah, there we go. Okay. That's pretty good. The thing about N95 is you need that strap to give you that seal. And so it's important to look at... These are sonically welded on here. Look at the welds on there. That's good. If this comes off, that's not going to give you a good seal. So it's very important that it's nice and tight. That's good. And in fact, little known fact, you go to the manufacturer and you have a broken head strap, they will replace it. That's part of the NIOSH guarantee.
Good mask. Great company. Great background story. I love the story. Super efficient manufacturer. They're outputting, vertically integrated. They make all the fabrics under one roof.
Whoa. A new record. Wow. That is super impressive. So remember under 100 pascals of breathability, 99.926. That's insane. That is insane. It's that three layers of Meltblown that's doing so well. That's a record. You got to give it. I mean, I got to... Clayton and the ladies and gentlemen at the Indiana Face Mask, I got to give that to you. You don't have a soft touch box, but that is a damn good mask. Wow. Love being excited.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I really appreciate it. We're testing a bunch of American made N95s here. And the reason for that is we're actually, we're putting them on our website. We're partnering with a lot of these manufacturers that unlike me, who invested in a lab and a marketing team, and who had that sort of background, a lot of these manufacturers are just really great at making stuff and they're not great at marketing.
And so I've decided while we're waiting for our NIOSH approval, we're going to put them on our website. So you can actually go to our website, armbrust.com. You can buy this mask, if you want. Shameless plug, I know. Look, it's not even a real lab code. It's all pageantry. I don't know what to tell you. Machine's real. I'm not though. What is real anyway?.
All right. Thank you guys for watching. I appreciate you hanging out with me. Hope you like the test. Hope you were as blown away as I am. And I will catch you guys on the next test. We're going to mix it up bit. We're going to go 3M, so join me on that one. Thanks so much.
Description
The Indiana Face Masks A105 is an N95, fold-style respirator that has passed all independent laboratory testing for breathability, filtration effectiveness, and construction. This fold-style mask features head straps that tie around the head to create a tight fit. IFM is also an American manufacturer with a long history of producing quality PPE.
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2 comments
To whom it may concern,
I would like to order some FACE SHIELD from your shop, and I would like to know the ones that you have available in your company. Let me know the price of the most expensive and less expensive. Also, if you accept a master-card/Visa card credit card as payment, I would like to know.
Thank you. Regards
JAN ALDEN COX
March 26, 2024
I live in Burley, ID. My son in Pasco, WA purchased N95 Indiana Face Mask A105 and sent me five of them for my use. I went shopping and wore the mask, but returning home and taking it off one strap, lower one, pulled loose. I was under the impression that if a strap came loose, the mask would be replaced, right?? My telephone # is 1-208-678-9090 in case you need to call…….. Address 670 Birch Drive, Burley, ID 83318
Edna
February 10, 2022